The US Court System
A court is an agency of government that provides authoritative decisions in legal
disputes brought to it for resolution. Courts are required not merely to decide
disputes, but to decide them fairly, in accordance with the law – hence the phrase
‘courts of justice’. Courts fulfill three important functions:
a. they resolve disputes which, while often routine, are crucial to
those involved;
b. they provide protection from illegal actions of government and
individuals;
c. and sometimes they resolve disputes of great political and social
significance.
The courts are the overseers of the law. They administer it, they resolve disputes
under it, and they ensure that it is and remains equal and impartial for everyone.
In the United States each state is
served by the separate court systems
– state and federal. Both systems are
organized into three basic levels of
courts — trial courts, intermediate
courts of appeal and a high court, or
Supreme Court. The state courts are
concerned essentially with cases
arising under state law, and the
federal courts with cases arising
under federal law. The state court
system includes trial courts, courts of
appeal, the State Supreme Court and
several special courts.
Trial courts bear the main burden in the administration of justice. Cases begin there
and in most instances are finally resolved there. Civil and criminal cases are heard by
twelve members of the jury and a judge, the trial is held. The trial courts in each state
include common pleas courts, which have general civil and criminal jurisdiction and
smaller in importance municipal courts, county courts and mayors’ courts.
The common pleas court is the most important of the trial courts. It is the court of
general jurisdiction — almost any civil or criminal case, serious or minor, may first
be brought there. In criminal matters, the common pleas courts have exclusive
jurisdiction over felonies. In civil matters it has exclusive jurisdiction in probate,
domestic relations and juvenile matters. The probate division deals with wills and the
administration of estates, adoptions, guardianships. It grants marriage licenses to
perform marriages. The domestic division deals with divorce, alimony, child custody.
The juvenile division has jurisdiction over delinquent, unruly or neglected children
and over adults, who neglect, abuse or contribute to the delinquency of children.
When a juvenile (any person under 18) is accused of an offence, whether serious or
minor, the juvenile division has exclusive jurisdiction over the case.
The main job of courts of appeal is to review cases appealed from trial courts to
determine if the law was correctly interpreted and applied. The State Supreme Court
of each state is primarily a court of appeal, as there appealed cases of possible
reversal are heard, and the court of last resort. There is no jury and no trial is held.
The State Supreme Court has the power to declare State laws and interpret State
Constitutional laws.
The legal state system also includes some special courts, such as: the Court of
Small Claims which deals with small property damage, and the Traffic Court.
The federal court structure is similar to the structure of the state court system. The
trial courts in the federal system are the United States district courts, which are 94 in
number. They also include criminal and civil jurisdiction. The criminal jurisdiction
deals with felonies which are committed across the state borders, such as arm
trafficking, drug smuggling. The civil jurisdiction has probate, domestic and juvenile
divisions. District courts settle routine cases where there are no Constitutional cases
at stake. The civil or criminal cases are heard by one judge and twelve members of
the jury.
The United States courts of appeal are intermediate courts of appeal between the
district courts and the United States Supreme Court. A very good example of such
type of courts was the Federal Circuit Court of Appeal existed till 1948. Now there
are 13 courts of appeal. They review appeals from district courts. The appealed cases
are heard by a group of 3 judges, a so-called ‘three-judge panel’, there is no jury and
the trial is not held.
The US Supreme Court is the highest court in the nation and the court of last
resort. It consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices, all of whom are
appointed for life by the President with the Advice and. Consent of the Senate. The
duty of the Supreme Court is to decide whether laws passed by Congress agree with
the Constitution. The great legal issues facing the Supreme Court at present are
Government involvement with religion, abortion and privacy rights, race and sex
discrimination. There is no jury and no trial is held, the decision is final.
The federal court system also includes some special courts, such as the US Tax
Court, the US Court of Claims, the US Court of Customs and the Court of Patent
Appeals. They handle cases which are difficult for judge to understand unless he
devoted his whole time to this one type of problem. The special courts are on the
borderline between strictly ‘judicial courts’ and the administrative agencies with
practically judicial powers, through which the government regulates certain kinds of
business.
